The use of wireless devices has become an increasing part of everyday life. Wireless devices have become popular due to their portability, convenience and ease of use. Today, wireless devices offer a myriad of functions including telephony functions, location-based services, email, multimedia playback, and electronic calendaring, to name a few. Integrated circuit technology has allowed for the miniaturization of circuits into smaller and smaller form factors; allowing for additional functionality and services to become available on wireless devices. Additionally, decreasing memory sizes have permitted wireless devices to store larger amounts of information. As a result, wireless networks are rapidly expanding bandwidth and services to accommodate this increase in wireless information and functionality.
Many wireless devices today include Global Positioning System (GPS) capabilities. A GPS receiver within a GPS-enabled wireless device can determine the device's precise location, speed, and direction by reading precise microwave signals transmitted from a constellation of Medium Earth Orbit satellites. The GPS receiver performs periodic “GPS fix” operations using the satellite signals to calculate its location. This information may be used for a variety of applications including, for example, mapping programs.
One problem which exists is that each GPS fix consumes a significant amount of time and battery life. As such, it would be useful to intelligently reduce the frequency with which GPS fixes are attempted by the wireless device in certain circumstances.